Happy Hours in San Jose, California

Four blocks of South First Street show what San Jose does with a happy hour: everybody prices their own house drink and nobody copies anyone. Good Karma at 37 lists a dollar off vegan drafts. Nomikai at 48 lists $9 drinks before 9 PM. Paper Plane at 72 lists $11 select drinks. Élyse at 96 lists $10 French wine pours. On the cross streets, Teske's Germania on North 1st lists a dollar off German liters and Trials Pub lists $6 British pints.

That variety is the market. Only about a quarter of the listings in this city use one of the mass-repeated deal strings that dominate most of the country, which is among the lowest rates on this site and makes the page worth reading line by line rather than scanning for a price.

Santana Row is the polished counterweight, with a dozen listings inside a single development: EMC lists $2 oysters with $7 drafts, Straits lists $9 Singapore slings, and Fitoor lists $9 Indian-inspired cocktails. Downtown around East Santa Clara Street, Miniboss lists all drinks at $9.99 and Cash Only lists free pool hours from 2 to 6.

Windows open at 3 PM slightly more often than 4, Japantown and Willow Glen supply the neighborhood entries, and roughly one listing in eight includes a weekend day.